阿倍の島鵜の住む磯に寄する波
間なくこのころ大和し思ほゆ
間なくこのころ大和し思ほゆ
- Roma-ji
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Ae no shima u no sumu iso ni yosuru nami manaku kono koro Yamato shi omooyu
- English Translation
-
On the isle of Ae,
where the cormorants make their home,
the waves that break ashore—
endlessly, these days of late,
Yamato comes to my mind.
- Meaning
- Like the waves that break ceaselessly on the rocky shore of Ae Island, where the cormorants live, these days Yamato is constantly in my thoughts.
- Commentary
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Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 359
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Six poems by Yamabe no Sukune Akahito"
This is the third of Yamabe no Akahito's six poems. As waves break ceaselessly on the rocky shore of Ae Island, so these days Yamato is ever in his mind—homesickness on a journey. The first three lines are a preface leading to "endlessly" through the unceasing waves, naturally linking seascape and feeling. Ae Island is thought to lie in Settsu, but its location is unknown.
Yamabe no Akahito's six poems center on travel along the shores of Harima and Settsu, interweaving longing for home and love.
The poet, Yamabe no Akahito, was a court poet of the reign of Shōmu who composed many poems on royal excursions and excelled in clear, limpid landscape verse. Later ages ranked him with Kakinomoto no Hitomaro as a "Saint of Poetry."
First line "On the isle of Ae" names an island of unknown location.
Second line "where the cormorants make their home" is the rocky shore where cormorants live.
Third line "the waves that break ashore": up to here is the preface leading to "endlessly."
Fourth line "endlessly, these days of late" turns the ceaseless waves into feeling.
Fifth line "Yamato comes to my mind": shi is emphatic and omooyu means to come to mind, ending in longing for home.
- Author
- Yamabe no Akahito
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Muko no ura o kogimiru obune Awashima o sogai ni mitsutsu tomoshiki obune
- Next Poem
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Shiohinaba tamamo karitsume ie no imo ga hamazuto kowaba nani o shimesamu